


silver storm, sparks at night

by jolielaide



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, M/M, one life changing karaoke scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-07 20:37:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolielaide/pseuds/jolielaide
Summary: REAL GHOST SIGHTINGS !!!!> 100% REAL GHOST SIGHTINGS !!> NOT FAKE !!> REAL TESTIMONIES FROM REAL PEOPLE !!!





	silver storm, sparks at night

**Author's Note:**

> i do not have a phd in ghost physics/politics. this is the product of my eternal bullshitting! enjoy!
> 
> working title: rabies in 2k words or less

_“—Hyungwon-ah, take care of yourself, yeah?”_

“Yes, mom.” He says sweetly, waving at the grainy picture of his parents side by side through their ancient PC back home. “I'm ending the call now, okay?” 

He hovers his mouse over the bright red end call button, waits for their consent before clicking. The image blinks out, leaving Hyungwon with that sweet final image of his mother grinning at him, and his dad grinning at her burned into the back of his eyelids. Sighing, he shuts his laptop and glances at the digital clock on his desk, 9:45. He pulls out his phone from his sweater pocket, scrolls past dozens of unopened messages, friends and family alike, and opens Minhyuk’s tab. 

_> What are you up to? ___

____

As expected, Minhyuk replies immediately. 

_> … nothing much :p  
> y do u ask its kinda late lol _

_> I just missed you haha <3 _

Hyungwon pauses for a few moments before sending the message, then waits, biting down on his tongue to stop from grinning. A chime. 

_> r u just using me as an excuse 2 stay up??? _

_Hyungwon bursts out laughing, spinning in his chair from the force of it. Two more chimes._

__

_> asshat -_-  
> im goin 2 bed now. _

The amount of passive-aggressiveness the punctuation radiates makes Hyungwon giggle again, gently quieting himself with a hand over his mouth. He stares at his phone, glances back at the clock, stares at his phone some more. Puffs out his cheeks and lets out all the air in his lungs in one big sigh. He places it facedown on his desk, not even bothering to charge it prior to reaching out to switch off his lamp. The light goes out a split second before he actually finishes tugging on the chain. He grimaces.

His bed is already made when he dives into it, fully dressed, pillow fluffed up exactly how he likes it. Hyungwon tries to pretend this doesn’t bother him, the same way he will pretend to not notice that his phone will be fully charged come morning. 

 

The problem is, weird things happen around Hyungwon. 

Entire, completely untouched jars of salsa go missing. Presumed lost snapbacks reappear, pristine, sitting on his bed. Eerie noises wake his neighbor’s dogs, who in turn wake the entire building. 

 

He asks Minhyuk about this one day at Arby’s over lunch.

“I don’t know about the salsa-” He replies, taking a gracious bite out of his burger and washing it down with Sprite. “But, you’re fucking haunted dude.”

He says it like it’s some menial thing, like: _The sky is blue, or The weather’s good today. There’s a ghost fucking your shit up. Daily._

Hyungwon hits him, softly, upside the head. Minhyuk beams at him in return, there’s a piece of lettuce stuck between his bottom teeth that Hyungwon doesn’t tell him about, call it retribution.

Minhyuk sucks grease slowly off each of his fingers, making Hyungwon queasy as he chews thoughtfully on the last of his wrap. “Hey, if you die? Can I have your PSP?”

 

Later that day, Hyungwon turns to the internet in desperation. Minhyuk’s nasally voice niggling at the back of his head, just behind his left ear, as he scrolls through article after article. His lamp flickers while he fields dozens of obnoxious advertisements inviting him into their shady ass home for a Free Tarot Reading!!!! He shivers, and pulls his blanket tighter around his shoulders, the telltale hum of his busted heating unit switches on and rumbles through his cramped apartment. 

It doesn’t do anything to soothe the shaking inside him.

13 websites, 3 failed chat rooms and 1 Buzzfeed quiz later, it’s 2am, and Hyungwon is no closer to discovering his personal plague. He opens Craigslist and debates whether he’s ready to risk everything, when a notification comes in from a forum he joined earlier, when hope still meant something to him. 

The reply to his long winded, slightly panicked question glares Hyungwon in the face, the rumble of his heater growls in his ears. Louder still, the memory of Minhyuk, the greasy little thing, backlit and glowing in an Arby’s, telling him that the source of his insanity, is a little more insanity. He reads it, and rereads it, then reads it again, until he can hear the almost sarcastic, condescending tone of his replier.

_ya u r home is haunted….. get ovr it XD_

Behind him, a crash. 

Hyungwon squeaks and jumps around in his chair, the blanket slips off his shoulders and onto the floor as he takes in the carnage before him.

There’s glass and salsa all over his hardwood. He buries his face in hands and groans.

 

Hyungwon does what you expect any perfectly normal, slightly irrational, university student, who may or may not be haunted by the ghost of a really clumsy, really sweet old lady. He sets traps. Starts carrying a salt infused penknife around. It's not like he'd ever use it, the thought alone makes him nauseous, but the stall owner was really fucking pushy. 

He writes temporary curses on the underside of his few remaining jars of salsa. Minhyuk watches Hyungwon, concern evident on his face, though overshadowed by amusement, as he balances a salsa jar on his knee and scrawls messy characters onto the lids. 

_“You...know I was kidding, right?”_

 

Nothing happens until weeks later, when Hyungwon is staring blankly at Minhyuk’s incomprehensible notes, pen dangling from his teeth, and trying his hardest to stay awake. A series of loud crashes emanates from the general direction of his kitchen just as he's about to doze off. At first, he thinks one of his neighbor’s dogs got into his pantry, then someone curses and his lamp goes out. 

Ah, fuck. He sneaks up out of his chair, avoiding the creakiest floorboards, which might as well be all of them, he fishes his penknife out of his back pocket and flips it open. 

Gingerly, he steps into the kitchen, both hands gripping the knife in front of him and shaking uncontrollably. And, oh, Jesus Christ; that is a big dog. He might be sick, or faint, or both, in that order. 

The figure hunched and groaning in his pantry hasn't noticed his presence yet, so he yells for his attention, but his voice cracks horribly in the middle and the shout turns up at the end, like it's a question. 

It jumps around and faces him, throwing its hands up in the air in surrender. “Whoa! Buddy, whoa.” 

Hyungwon doesn’t say anything, just stands there, stares like he could piece together why the thing in his pantry has scraggly, faded edges, and kind of, sort of, glows. Slowly, it drops its hands, Hyungwon catches the movement and shoves the knife in his hands forward threateningly. “Jeez, do you just carry that thing around with you?”

Hyungwon flushes slightly, embarrassed to be caught in his paranoia, then he remembers the reason for his paranoia was just rooting around in his shit. 

They stand in an awkward face-off, Hyungwon and this, this, translucent, almost human, thing. 

He’s really going to be sick now. 

“You’re- you’re…” He stammers, attempting to force words through the fear lodged in his throat. It raises an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. 

“Devilishly handsome?” It offers, shrugging and looking away in feigned nonchalance. _Short_ , Hyungwon thinks. 

“A ghost.” He says, and as he does, he can feel his fear drain out of him all in one go, leaving him exhausted. He lowers his hands and scratches the back of his neck, now completely ashamed at being so hostile. Feels like he should invite it in now, offer it a glass of milk. Stop calling it it. Or something. 

His heart slows from its jackrabbit pace, he shuffles in place, bashful, he's got exams to study for, homework to do. And here he is, at well past midnight, threatening a ghost with a knife. Hyungwon sighs, and turns around, might as well leave it be. 

“Wait! Where are you going?” The ghost calls after him, when Hyungwon doesn't answer his question and keeps walking, it hurries after him. “You saw me! I have to haunt you forever now.” 

Hyungwon scoffs, “Is that so?” 

It nods sharply. Hyungwon continues his hurried pace, not stopping until he's back at his bedroom, shutting the door right in its face. 

It walks right through his door. “Don't ignore me!” 

Hyungwon blinks, taking a wobbly step backwards. 

“I'm Yoo Kihyun! A troubled spirit!” 

It steps forward, forcing Hyungwon back another step, and again, until his palms rest on the cool wood of his desk. He spares a glance behind him, his lamp is going haywire. Static in the air, so thick he could see it, raises all the hairs on his body. Hyungwon swallows heavily, and extends a trembling hand forward. 

“Chae Hyungwon. Forensics major.” 

 

Kihyun becomes hell bent on keeping up the haunting business, although it's not exactly what Hyungwon expected. 

Sure, at first, he's awful. 

He steals clothes. Drops the temperature to negatives anytime he walks in the room. Makes faces at him while he's studying. Absolutely, downright terrorizing him for months. 

 

Then; 

“Karaoke night, baby!” Minhyuk proclaims, slapping an unprepared Jooheon on the back while he was tying his laces. Hyungwon grabs him by his collar before he goes reeling into the pavement, and whips his head up to glower at Minhyuk, who's already walking away. 

He helps Jooheon up, and trails behind him as he scurries into the building, chooses not to say anything about the splotchy flush on his ears and the back of his neck when Minhyuk ruffles his hair. 

The temperature drops.

Hyungwon pulls his jacket tighter around himself, and picks up his pace. 

“Hello Hyungwon.” 

“Hi Ki— Argh!” Hyungwon yells, jumping backwards. An old couple, further ahead on the sidewalk, give him concerned glances. Hyungwon grabs his foot and lets out what he hopes is a convincing groan of pain. The women offer sympathetic looks, nodding. 

He faux limps to the glass doors, just in case, he holds the door open for Kihyun, who phases through the closed one. “What are you doing here.” He hisses. 

“You invited me.” 

_[Hyungwon held the phone between his arm and shoulder, speaking frantically into it as he stuffed his arm through his jacket, and his feet into his shoes. “You want me to what?—Karaoke?”_

__

__

_“Can I come?”_

_“What? Of course I'm ready!—Yes, on my way.”]_

“That wasn't an invitation.” Kihyun makes a little noise realization, and Hyungwon resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Look—” He nods at the attendant at the counter, “just stay out of trouble.” 

 

Hyungwon gawks at Jooheon, belting out tragic ballad after ballad. There's frost forming on the microphone where he grips it, growing by the second, and the smile he wears is not his own. 

“He's good isn't he?” Minhyuk says, slight pride tinging his tone as he slides into the booth next to him. “You should join him. Like a duet, or a battle, or something.” 

“Me? No.” Minhyuk smiles. “ _No._ I'm going to get more shrimp.”

Hyungwon stands to leave, draping his jacket over his arm. A few steps out of the rented room, he hears Jooheon’s voice drop a few decibels, and crack loudly. Followed by Minhyuk's hysterical cackling. He checks the halls for people, then spins around. 

“What the fuck!” 

“Huh?” 

“You can't just do that!” 

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “I can't?”

“You can't.” Hyungwon confirms. “Totally uncool.” 

Kihyun presses his lips together, seemingly contemplative. Then, “Did you like my singing?”

“What?” It's Hyungwon's turn to be confused.

“My singing.” He reiterates. “You were staring, did you like it?” 

“I guess….” Hyungwon yields, scratching the nape of his neck, Kihyun smirks, self satisfied. Hyungwon blanks for a few critical moments, then hurriedly scrambles to collect himself. “You were possessing my friend?!”

Hyungwon sighs. "We should go—" He gets ultimately cut off by Kihyun swooping up, placing a frigid peck on his cheek. He gasps and slaps his hand against his face. "Home..."

"Yeah," Kihyun bounds away from him, and down the hallway, calling over his shoulder. "We should."

He's different somehow...

Life now is mostly him flipping through month old newspapers, flat on his tummy in Hyungwon’s bed, legs up and reading out bits and pieces he thinks are cool while Hyungwon studies, a few feet away. He's different from the spectre that ghosted his apartment for months— Hyungwon still doesn't let him near his lamp though. He’s….mellowed.

It's hard to wrap his mind around.

Hyungwon wakes up some mornings to find Kihyun passed out in the shower stall, an unwelcome presence, especially when he's trying to piss. He crowds Hyungwon's space, but lashes out if Hyungwon comes within a foot of him. Others, it's like he remembers he's supposed to be a ghoul, something terrifying and mysterious, not just a see-through roommate. Those mornings, Hyungwon only catches glimpses of his shadows in reflective surfaces. He angles the bathroom mirror towards him with one hand, the other holding a toothbrush still in his mouth. Kihyun smiles, eyes meeting his through the mirror, soft and slightly watery. Hyungwon reflects it, mouth full of foam. 

He walks out of the bathroom, towel around his shoulders and hair sticking to his forehead, wet from the shower and dripping onto the shirt he's got on, darkening it. Kihyun is on the floor in front of him, and he doesn't notice until he's got a foot in his head. Hyungwon shudders, but apologizes, side-stepping him. Kihyun shrugs him off, focused on keeping form long enough to grab the mug in front of him. His face drops when his hand phases through it, and Hyungwon looks away, unexplainable guilt gnawing at him. He glances over to the coffee table, which is currently covered in newspaper clippings, courtesy of Kihyun. 

He walks over and picks one up, squinting at it in the bright sunlight. 

_REAL GHOST SIGHTINGS !!!!_

_> 100% REAL GHOST SIGHTINGS !!_  
_> NOT FAKE !!_  
_> REAL TESTIMONIES FROM REAL PEOPLE !!! _

“Why are you reading this?” He says, pinching the excerpt between his fingers. “Where did you even find it?” 

Kihyun gets up and saunters over, bending down to read it as well. He shrugs, straightening back up. “It's cool.” 

“You can use mirrors, can't you? Just look there.”

“It's not the same.” Kihyun says, pouting now. Kihyun, he learns, is a very standalone kind of guy, self contained and autonomic. Lone space ranger. But it's not by choice. 

"I could make a documentary on you." Hyungwon grins, pushing slightly into Kihyun's space. Testing the boundaries.

" _Creep!_ " Kihyun cries, covering his face with his arms in protection, hiding. But he doesn't push him away. Hyungwon laughs, sated. 

He catches him again on the balcony, staring wistfully at the people's daily commute below, chin and arms hooked over the railing, fingers stretched out like he could he reach out and touch them. He comes up behind him, hand hovering over the dip of his spine. Kihyun looks up briefly. 

“I want…” He trails off, flailing his arms in the air in lieu of completing his sentence. Hyungwon gets it, and hums sympathetically. The soft morning light reflects against his profile, paints him soft. “Sometimes, I forget my own name.” 

“That’s alright.” He says, and he means it. What’s being real anyways? “I’ll remember it for you.” 

Kihyun smiles, and reaches behind himself, pushes down on Hyungwon’s hand to meet with the soft fabric of the hoodie he's eternally got on. Solid. 

The weight, soft pressure of skin against skin, though fleeting, is evidence enough for Hyungwon. 

 

_(“Hey did you hear? There was a city wide power outage this morning.”_

__

__

_“Oh?” Hyungwon smiles, absently pressing a hand to his cheek. “Is that so?”)_

**Author's Note:**

> pls..... tell me if u thought it was okay... i didnt expect my debut on this acc to be mx but here i am. thank you sawyer and lau for introducing me to them :)
> 
> visit me on twitter im @wlwsnmi !!!


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